So, I've been aware of the existence of the Strange Friend toy for a while now (perhaps as long as a year), but it was only recently that I decided that I really needed to own one. I missed out on the Transmutate build-a-figure that was packed into reissues during the Beast Wars tenth anniversary (they seemed pricy and redundant) and now the aftermarket pricing is like $300. But, I've always wanted a good-sized Transmutate in my collection, and the Fossilizer version we got last year just didn't cut it.

There are too many third party toy manufacturers for me to keep track of, but evidently TransArt largely focuses on screen-accurate Beast Wars characters, with other releases like Skateboard Gorilla and Four Forms Commander.

The toy comes in a box with original line art of Transmutate reaching longingly for the heavens, with an illustration on the back that evokes both Silverbolt and Rampage, the two opposing warriors vying for Transmutate's friendship. I like when they demonstrate they have a clear understanding of the lore and the storyline behind these types of toy releases.

The toy comes in a plastic tray, disassembled, and is made of about 11 parts. There are no assembly instructions, but the arms and legs and things snap in place easily and it's quite intuitive, especially if you're already familiar with the character's appearance.

For those who don't know, or haven't seen the episode in a while, the idea behind Transmutate was that it was a protoform that had been damaged, so the scanning and replication system aboard its stasis pod went completely screwy and built this oddly-misshapen robot with a stunted personality and no capability to transform. Silverbolt sensed a kindred spirit (perhaps because he was also the result of a malfunctioning stasis pod) but Rampage also wanted to make friends with it (he knew a fellow tortured soul when he saw one), and their fight to win its affection ended up resulting it its tragic destruction. It's one of the most heavy-handed "message" episodes of Beast Wars but it's also done tastefully and poignantly, and the episode, and title character, has always been a favorite of mine.

So the toy is about 11" when fully assembled. I think it's probably too big to scale with vintage Beast Wars toys, but it seems to fit nicely in a collection of modern-era Masterpiece or Kingdom releases (most video reviews seem to have been recorded in 2020, so that seems to be the year it was commercially released). The toy's height is somewhat variable, given that the position of the neck and the legs is adjustable. (In the show, the character's head assembly moved up and down on a track on the upper body, and it had one normal leg and one digitigrade leg, with one leg actually longer than the other, so it's hard to tell where its true resting height might be.)

The colors seem mostly accurate. The face and chest are silver, and I remember it being more of a greenish color, but I know the ambient lighting in the show tended to change how the characters looked at times. It's certainly recognizable as the character.

I was delighted to find that so many joints are on clicky ratchets—the shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, as well as the track for the head assembly and the sliding track where the right leg is connected to the hip. The ratcheting joints allow you to achieve most poses without fear of the toy falling over under its own weight. The spine is also articulated at three points. The two fingers are also articulated, but the thumb is not. Moreover, the figure uses actual metal rods for some of the pistons, like the ones in the left ankle, the ones comprising the left bicep, and in the torso and neck. Besides having stronger structural strength than plastic, it allows these joints to move much more smoothly. The hoses that connect from the back of the head to the body are soft and malleable.

The toy has three swappable faces—a wistful sad expression, a wistful happy expression, and a screaming face. I honestly can't decide which of them I like the best, since they're all so eminently appropriate for the character. There's actually a battery-powered light-up function in the head, which makes an LED glow when you press down on the top of the head, which shines through the translucent red eyes. I think the battery is almost dead on mine, since it only glows faintly, but I can replace it pretty easily.

My copy of the toy also came with some extra grey pieces whose purpose wasn't readily evident to me. But, after doing some research online, I guess they're meant to be replacement joint parts for the spine, which some people were complaining was too loose. I'll have to pop those parts in later and see if they improve the toy's stability at all.

So, I paid $65 for this toy plus shipping, and honestly it's so big and awesome that I probably would have paid quite a bit more if it had been necessary. It's engineered very well and is of exceptionally high quality. You always sort of take a gamble with third-party toys, but in this case I'm super happy with the result.

Zob (deceit... treachery... mindless loyalty)

>It's one of the most heavy-handed "message" episodes of Beast Wars but it's also done tastefully and poignantly, and the episode, and title character, has always been a favorite of mine.

It's a classic episode, and somehow never seemed heavy-handed or obvious to me. Partially because I'm slightly dim, and partially because they cloaked their message behind really cool robots. 60/40.

> So the toy is about 11" when fully assembled. I think it's probably too big to scale with vintage Beast Wars toys, but it seems to fit nicely in a collection of modern-era Masterpiece or Kingdom releases (most video reviews seem to have been recorded in 2020, so that seems to be the year it was commercially released).

I'm incredibly tempted to go all-in on this line, but I prefer CHUG scale to MP, if only for space reasons. Plus, I'm hopeful that with the release of TMII Megatron, Hasbro might actually start releasing new CHUG versions of the Season 2/3 show characters.
> So, I paid $65 for this toy plus shipping, and honestly it's so big and awesome that I probably would have paid quite a bit more if it had been necessary. It's engineered very well and is of exceptionally high quality. You always sort of take a gamble with third-party toys, but in this case I'm super happy with the result.

The bots from this line look amazing. Good on them for servicing a niche that has been crying out for attention - namely, the iconic Transmetals from BW Season 2. The reviews have been good too; more importantly, it seems like they've been improving with each new release.

Their new TM Rattrap looks amazing. https://showzstore.com/transart-bwm-07-transmetal-rattrap_p3852.html

And their TM Megatron. https://showzstore.com/transart-bwm-06-tyrannosaurus-transmetal-megatron_p3529.html

And their TM Primal. https://showzstore.com/transart-skateboard-gorilla-beast-wars-transmetal-optimus-primal_p2110.html

*slowly reaches for wallet*

> Zob (deceit... treachery... mindless loyalty)

Loyalty comes first!